Tumblr Takes a Stand Against 'Self-Harm' Blogs

Tumblr will release a new policy blocking blogs that promote self-harm -- such as anorexia, bulimia, self-mutilation and suicide -- in a change to the platform's Content Policy. The company is asking its community for input on the revised policy, which will be live within the next week.

"We are deeply committed to supporting and defending our users’ freedom of speech, but we do draw some limits," a Tumblr staff blog post says. "As a company, we’ve decided that some specific kinds of content aren’t welcome on Tumblr."

While Tumblr, as a company, strongly opposes self-harm and does not want to host such content, it has been torn between whether to prohibit the blogs altogether or direct readers to organizations such as the National Eating Disorders Association, as a public service.

Tumblr's proposed solution is to change its policy and sponsor public service ads, with links to organizations and help hotline phone numbers, that will appear alongside search results for terms such as anorexia, anorexic, bulimia, bulimic, thinspiration, thinspo, proana, purge, purging, etc.

Active Promotion of Self-Harm. Don’t post content that actively promotes or glorifies self-injury or self-harm. This includes content that urges or encourages readers to cut or mutilate themselves; embrace anorexia, bulimia, or other eating disorders; or commit suicide rather than, e.g., seek counseling or treatment for depression or other disorders. Online dialogue about these acts and conditions is incredibly important; this prohibition is intended to reach only those blogs that cross the line into active promotion or glorification. For example, joking that you need to starve yourself after Thanksgiving or that you wanted to kill yourself after a humiliating date is fine, but recommending techniques for self-starvation or self-mutilation is not.

The blogosphere has been known to host support group-like communities for individuals with self-harming behaviors. Pro-ana or thinspiration blogs, glorifying eating disorders and overlooking recovery, have been investigated by The Oprah Winfrey Show and PBS Frontline, among others.

Do you think Tumblr has proposed the right steps to rid the platform of blogs promoting self-harm? Let us know what you think in the comments.